Just noticed over the weekend that some Kahr's came with this finish, at a small premium price. I'm not familiar with it, and wonder what its reputation is for durability, etc.?

Thanks. Regards from AZ

B Shipley

July 12, 2000, 08:50 AM

I just got some mags done in this finish. It was cheap ($50 minimum at the shop, which covered 10 mags). I think it is better than standard nickel, but I can't say that I really like it. I got it b/c hard chrome wasn't practical for what I needed. Hard Chrome and Stainless strike me as better choices. Also, I think they are more durable. The e.less nickel appears to go on with no buildup and stamped words seem very sharp.

Art Eatman

July 13, 2000, 12:27 AM

This was fairly new some 20 years back. It was a relatively inexpensive way to dress up a gun's looks, and improve its resistance to rust.

I have a Lightweight Commander whose frame was plated with electroless nickel in 1981. I carried it nightly with no holster, for over a year. No rust problems...

FWIW, Art

Jeff Thomas

July 13, 2000, 01:20 AM

B, Art, thanks for the feedback.

Regards from AZ

Mark King

July 13, 2000, 10:14 AM

Jeff, I have one of those early model Kahr K9s with the electroless nickle finish. When I purchaed my example, the retailer had it at the same price of the matte blue gun. While it's much better at resisting rust thatn the blued gun I have seen some oxydation on my gun. I noticed some rust and slight pitting under the left grip panel. I usually carry IWB with the left side of the gun against my body. My gun also has quite a bit of holster wear near the muzzle, but no noticable rust. I'm thinking of having the gun refinished in one of the new teflon based finishes, such as Black-T or Rouguard. I've had good results with Rouguard in the past and am leaning toward this finish. Mark / Fl

Jeff Thomas

July 13, 2000, 03:17 PM

Mark, thanks.

Also, check out Robar's NP3 finish - it's a light, matte silver in appearance, and is supposed to be even more durable than Roguard. They can do a nice two-tone job, with Roguard on the slide, and the rest (including internals) in NP3 - as I recall, this was about $225 for the entire sidearm, including one mag. Looks very sharp, but I think the NP3 wears better than the Roguard.

Regards from AZ

Mark King

July 13, 2000, 03:47 PM

Jeff, I like my carry guns to be BLACK! I'll probably have all the externals finished in Rouguard and the internals done in NP3. This would be similar to the finish I had done to my Lightweight Officer's ACP. The NP3 on the internals caused the trigger pull to feel about a pound lighter than it was before refinishing. I expect with NP3 on the internals, the already great trigger pull on the Kahr would be even better. Mark / FL

Bartholomew Roberts

July 13, 2000, 04:34 PM

If you are interested in the Roguard/NP3 finishes (or any finish really) take a look at the http://www.robarguns.com/ website. They have a very good, detailed explanation of all the various gun finishes along with the corrosion resistance of each finish.